This invention relates to the field of folding ironing boards that are easy carried and stored. The convenience of having a foldable ironing board mounted on a wall has long been recognized. In the year 1915, both Foss and Mayberry in U.S. Pat. No. 1,124,218 and Hornschuch in U.S. Pat. No. 1,136,878 disclosed ironing boards so mounted. Later Fay in 1942, U.S. Pat. No. 2,298,002, and Larsen in 1957, U.S. Pat. No. 2,814,892, improved upon these earlier ironing boards; but, like their predecessors, they taught devices which required permanent wall supports. Also, each of the inventors in the cited prior art used bracing for the board that forms a rather thick, bulky package when the board is folded so that even if these ironing boards were made portable, they would be very difficult to carry.
Porter, U.S. Pat. No. 1,793,826, and Rasmussen, U.S. Pat. No. 2,386,139, on the other hand, each mounted an ironing board upon a closet door. Their boards, which were hung from a single handle on a closed closet door, placed a severe stain on its handle.
Leemhuis, U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,235, invented an ironing board that fits on both of the door handles of a closet or other door. The board is supported by a pair of hooks placed over the handles and a heel that rests against the door edge. In order to use this board, however, the closet door needs to be held open by blocks placed on each side of the door. Therefore, not only does this board fail to use the wasted space of the door swing but also the board places a severe load on the support shaft of the door handles which must both support the weight and resist the bending moment of the board in use.